Statement of
NALC President On Compliance with National Agreement
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Let Let me make the following clear to one and all, including
Postal Service management at headquarters and in the field,
and all letter carriers, at every level in the union and in
every post office: No one, at any level, has any authority
to amend or violate the national contract, period. PMG Potter
memo on honoring contract (PDF).
It is up to each one of us to make sure that the changes we
bring to the organization are changes for the better,” Potter
recently wrote. Respecting and protecting the provisions of
the collective-bargaining agreements will help us to do that
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Paul Steven Miller is the Henry M. Jackson Professor
of Law at the University of Washington School of Law who
is an expert in workplace and employment law. Professor
Miller spent the first nine months of the Obama
Administration as a Special Assistant to the President in
The White House. Prior to joining the University of
Washington in 2004, Professor Miller had been one of the
longest serving commissioners of the EEOC. Dennis J. Toner
has directed policy, public and political affairs for over
30 years for then-Senator and now-Vice President Biden.
Taking Control of the Board of Governors
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The National Association of
Postal Supervisors has warned key Senate and House leaders
of potential abuse that may occur in the Postal Service's
administration of its pay-for-performance system covering
75,000 USPS managers, supervisors and postmasters. Such
abuse, NAPS projects, could result in a salary loss of at
least $500 to $800 by each affected employee, effective
February 5.
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The
current rules governing conduct on Postal Service property
establish the maximum penalty for a violation as a fine of not
more than $50 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, or both.
As revised by this notice, the maximum penalty for a violation
will be increased to a fine of not more than that allowed under
title 18 of the United States Code or imprisonment of not more
than 30 days, or both.
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January 29, 2010

Issue: The Abusive Treatment Of Postmasters And The
Inefficient And Ineffective Post Office Management
Practices Of Upper Level USPS Managers- This letter will
serve to inform you of our intention to take our
Postmaster issues to Congress. These are the same issues
over which the National league of Postmasters has been
unsuccessfully attempting to positively engage the Postal
Service for the last 3 X years. You know the issues; they
include Postmasters putting in horribly long work weeks
due to the Postal Service's failure to properly staff
supervisors, clerks and carriers and to properly budget
work hours, the caustic workplace environment in many
districts, a failed pay for performance system, and the
Postal Service's failure to fill level 16 and below
Postmaster positions. |

-The U.S. Postal Service today
filed an update with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC)
indicating that 162 offices remain under review for
possible consolidation under the station and branch
consolidation initiative. That is six fewer from the last
update in December. No final decisions have been made
regarding specific office consolidations.
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Springfield (MA) Area Local reached
a tentative agreement with Alan Ritchey, Inc. on a new
Collective Bargaining Agreement that will cover all 90 members
employed at the Mail Transport Equipment Service Center (MTESC).
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It
is not clear if the removal was related to claims by an
employee that the manager electronically deleted overtime
from employees' time sheets in order to make himself "look
good" in the eyes of his superiors. The actions resulted
in employees losing pay, the employee claimed. |

The seal shall secure the mail containers and shall not
allow the container to be opened without
physical destruction of the seal. The seal shall be a
passive one time use locking device and
shall indicate tampering or access into the mail
containers. The seal shall close and lock in
a manner that provides an audible and tactile feedback to
the user that the seal has closed
securely. When forcibly opened or cut, the seal shall be
incapable of being resealed. |

A letter carrier has been
charged with stealing cash, gift cards, debit and credit
cards from the very mail she was paid to deliver,
authorities said Wednesday. Police and postal inspectors
executed a search warrant at her residence, where they
recovered hundreds of these items in addition to a large
volume of mail and property taken from Pound Ridge
residents and elsewhere in Westchester. Ryan said the
value of the theft was $123,693 but estimated it could go
as high as $250,000.
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Because a viable postal sector is critical to any nation’s
economic stability, Chief Postal Inspector William R. Gilligan,
Jr. is sending U.S. Postal Inspectors to Haiti to conduct
security assessments and help prepare for the restoration of
mail service to the earthquake-ravaged country.
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Management has attempted to limit this Union's involvement with
the EERPs program. Management wants to take the Mail Handler
chosen by the Union to be on this committee, and replace them
with the team, handpicked by management. This is a blatant
underhanded way to limit this Union's participation in the
process.
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The last three financial reports
affecting the USPS has been researched and paid for by the OIG,
and not the Postal Service: It appears, through default, the OIG
has taken over the creative thinking of the Postal Service.
Instead of looking at the problems in a new way, the USPS
management goes right to cost cutting – cut workhours, cut
service, and cut delivery days. It continues to make mail less
attractive through regulations and passing costs onto customers. |

On their own, people along
Laguerre's route raised nearly $3,000 to help him cover travel
expenses to get to Haiti with supplies and aid for family
members who survived. However, the neighbors have been told they
cannot give Laguerre the money in any form, gift or cash,
despite the extraordinary circumstances. |

Mail is supposed to be delivered
despite snow, rain, heat or gloom of night. But even when the
elements weren't to blame, the Temple post office threw away and
delayed mail delivery, federal investigators have found. Though
mail disruption can be a felony, criminal charges were not
filed. Disciplinary or administrative actions were entrusted to
the U.S. Postal Service's Rio Grande District in San Antonio.
Employees who watched mail get tossed wonder why violators
appeared to suffer no consequences. |

It is time for the new leadership in Congress and the new
administration to take a serious and sincere look at the Postal
Service’s business practices. We urge Congress to conduct a
comprehensive and thorough investigation of the Oakland Post
Office P&DC bid cluster, that will include interviews with craft
employees and visits to all facilities.
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The grievances are sustained, The
Postal Service improperly utilized the Delivery Operations
Information System (DOIS) figures to set the carriers' leave and
return times in violation of the M-39 Handbook. In addition, the
improper DOIS figures created a hostile work environment for the
carriers.
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Letter sent out from Area VP to District
Managers: "The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently
conducted an audit of the Postal Service's attendance control
policies and procedures. The report concluded that supervisors
have failed to comply with Postal Service policies and
procedures regarding unscheduled absences and recommended the
following three actions: provide refresher training to
supervisors, establish and implement internal controls to
evaluate and ensure supervisors compliance, and mandate the use
of the Enterprise Resource Management System."
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by Omar Gonzalez, APWU Western
Region Coordinator - Postal Officials projected 97
million patrons visited a post office during the holidays,
reporting retail offices generated $12 billion in FY 09. Not bad
for business. On the hand, Deputy PMG Donahoe ruins it all by
claiming waiting time in line at post offices was just over 3
minutes. He ignores the hundreds of thousands complaining of
waiting in line sometimes as long as 20 minutes. The fact is management has
gutted window operations. Calling it "efficiency" they will
continue to reduce window operations through 2013. The current
number of post offices targeted for closure is 141. Pointing to
alternative services that generate $5 billion, they contend
reducing window service is good business. (Go figure) Wait a
minute Mr. PMG. Why are you taking service out of the USPS?
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The U.S. Postal Service’s Financial Condition: Overview and Issues for
Congress - While Congress alleviated the
USPS’s FY2009 cash shortage, it is unclear what the future holds
for the USPS’s finances. Even with this assistance, the USPS had
an FY2009 operating loss of $3.8 billion. As the USPS’s finances
have deteriorated, its ability to absorb operating losses has
been diminished. Between FY2005 and FY2009, the USPS’s debt rose
from $0 to $10.2 billion. (The agency’s statutory debt limit is
$15 billion.) The USPS has predicted operating deficits in
FY2010, and its auditor has stated that there is “significant
uncertainty” as to whether the USPS will have the cash required
to make its FY2010 payment to its Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
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Postal workers said John was
working on the mail sorting machine when he suddenly fell to the
floor. That's when the three postal workers morphed into
Emergency Medical Technicians. Patterson gave chest compressions
while Domingo Vasquez gave mouth to mouth. The trio performed
C.P.R. for about 15 minutes, until the ambulance arrived. John
is recovering at St. John's and is now in good condition.
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The manager of the city's Postal
Service branch, who was recently found to have altered his
employees' time sheets, was escorted out of the building by a
representative of the Office of the Inspector General Tuesday
afternoon, according to the president of the state postal union.Inspector General continues probe at Somersworth NH post office
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A major debate is coming in
Congress over the Postal Service’s “business model.” GAO will
issue a report on the subject in March and congressional
hearings will follow. Lawmakers will examine the outlook for
mail volume, six-day delivery and post office closings, new
services and revenue options—and the pre-funding of future
retiree health benefits, now a staggering $5.5 billion per year
burden. But even before spring arrives, Congress will make
decisions that will have a huge impact on letter carriers and
the financial strength of the Postal Service.
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OIG Audit: USPS Can’t Rationalize ‘Network
Rationalization’ APWU News - Echoing APWU
criticisms, a recent audit by the USPS Office of the Inspector General
(OIG) concluded that after more than five years of initiatives aimed
at streamlining the mail-processing network, the Postal Service
has failed to establish criteria for identifying consolidation opportunities.
The USPS has made only limited progress in implementing Area Mail
Processing consolidations in the Processing & Distribution network,
the Jan. 7 report says.
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By Stephen
Lysaght, President, APWU East Bay Area Local - Grievances concerning
supervisors performing bargaining unit work and Carriers assigned
Clerk craft duties have increased dramatically. Perhaps it has to
do with the current financial plight of the Postal Service. Because
mail volume and revenue have decreased, Clerks are not replaced
when they retire or separate for other reasons. Their duty assignments
are reverted and PTF's hours are reduced. Clerks are being excessed
outside their installations to other offices or crafts. What is
wrong with this picture?
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Workers’ compensation benefits help
employees who suffer on-the-job injuries, and a crucial element
of that program is to make sure they are extended only to employees
with legitimate injury claims. A number of employees each year submit
fraudulent claims or extend their absences by falsely reporting
they are unable to return to work.
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She succeeds Terry Wilson, who was
appointed in 2006. Welch previously served as the district manager
of the Dallas and Fort Worth districts, where she oversaw improvements
in efficiency and reduced costs while achieving record service levels.
Wilson is retiring from the Postal Service after a 34-year career.
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January 16, 20

by James Bertolone, President APWU
Rochester, NY - When you hear labor costs are 80 percent of
the postal dollar, remember close to 25 percent of the postal dollar
goes to those who do not transport, sort or deliver the mail, and
do not serve at public windows or maintain the buildings and equipment.
We should require Congress to perform its oversight function, starting
with demanding the resignations of Potter and Bush-appointed members
of the Postal Board of Governors before they destroy the greatest
postal service with the lowest rates in the western world. Mailing
services constitute 9 percent of our economy. The Postal Service
belongs to every American.
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Citing
concern about its huge annual deficits, Senators Susan Collins,
R-Me., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., sent a letter to the U.S. Postal
Service (USPS) Inspector General, asking for a review of the service's
procurement policies and regulation. Their concern stems from three
contracts that USPS awarded as sole-source contracts. "Not only
did these contracts, totaling more than $1.3 million, lack sufficient
competition, but also they were awarded to individuals or entities
that appear to have had prior business relationships with the senior
official responsible for the program and oversight of the contract.
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The United States Postal Service and
the union representing more than 500 workers at the mail facility
located in Logan Township have decided to allow a third party to
resolve their differences. They withdrew their motion for injunctive
relief Friday after both parties agreed to proceed with expedited
arbitration.
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It’s official: The U.S. Postal Service
will not be able to carry out the usual May increase in First Class,
Standard, and Periodicals rates this year. And there may be a bit
of good news for mailers next year as well.
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The U.S.
Department of Labor will recover more than $1.8 million in back
wages for more than 500 employees of MT Transportation &
Logistics Services Inc., a trucking company based in Bay Shore,
under contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to
haul mail. The company and its principal officers also will be
debarred from receiving future government contracts for a
three-year period.
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The Docket provides for a public inquiry to develop information
on the status of the suspended offices and the Postal Service’s
practice of suspending offices for extended periods without affording
the public the rights guaranteed by law.|

According to a statement of facts
read at Baker’s hearing, Ashvin Shah worked for the U.S. Postal
Service in Columbus as an in-house construction project
manager/contracting official. Between January, 2005 and June,
2009, Shah solicited bribes from construction companies doing
business with, and desiring to do business with, the Postal
Service. As part of the investigation into the bribery
allegations, FBI special agents interviewed Shah on June 26,
2009. Although Shah denied being involved in bribery while
serving as a Postal Service Architect/Engineer, he committed
suicide within 12 hours of being interviewed. |

In February 2007, Arbitrator Linda
S. Byars denied an APWU grievance over the closing of
medical/health units in postal facilities. That arbitration
resulted in the closure of 59 of the then-existing 110
healthcare units. The 2009 interest-arbitration award allows for
the replacement of existing Medical Units with Occupational
Health Offices, where the nurses will perform non-clinical work,
including case-management for employees who suffer job-related
and non-job-related injuries. |

A Grand Forks , North Dakota
postal carrier charged with driving a mail truck while drunk was
ordered Tuesday to serve a year on unsupervised probation and
received a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail.
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If it had implemented a
five-day-per-week delivery schedule years ago, the US Postal
Service would have saved more than $2 billion during the its
2008 fiscal year. For the 2007 fiscal year, the cut in service
would have saved the organization more than $1.9 billion,
according to the Postal Regulatory Commission's annual report
for fiscal year 2009.Ruth Goldway, chairwoman of the PRC, said
in the report that the group expects to review a possible change
in delivery days per week in the coming year.|

The Postal Service proposes to revise
Mailing Standards of the Domestic Mail Manual to clarify that a
proposed new standard to allow for the mailing of replica or inert
explosive devices, such as grenades, be sent by Registered Mail
only.
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Sixty postal trucks lined the entrance
of Evergreen Cemetery yesterday afternoon in a tribute to a Framingham
letter carrier who died last week. Bill Lynch, president of the
National Association of Letter Carriers in Framingham, organized
the procession. "It's rare that we are allowed to do this sort of
thing while working," he said. "Sixty postal trucks all together
is a sight."
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To remain financially viable, the Postal
Service must effectively streamline the mail processing and transportation
network and optimize the workforce. The Postal Service has embarked
on a journey of transformational changes. Management, congress,
unions, and stakeholders must work together during this period of
rapid change to ensure network rationalization initiatives have
the energy needed to be successful in spite of challenges.
There
are 268 P& DCs nationwide and, since FY 2005, the Postal Service
has implemented 13 AMP consolidations
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Due to a programming error that occurred
across the country, about 11,600 regular rural mail carriers and
up to 14,000 substitute carriers did not receive their paychecks
Friday, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman said. |

California Postal Supervisor Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement And Theft
Charges
- Simmons
stole the cash reserve of the Perkins Station Post Office in Sacramento.
The cash reserve was entrusted to Simmons in order for her to provide
change to counter postal clerks she supervised. Simmons incrementally
stole the cash reserve, totaling $3,999.50, and then falsified documents
to cover her theft and embezzlement. |

Running a national lottery could help
the U.S. Postal Service close its multibillion-dollar budget gap,
according to a Postal Regulatory Commission official. A Postal Service-run
lottery “could offer the potential for substantial profits for the
Postal Service and utilize its current retail infrastructure with
its 36,000 retail outlets, claimed to be the largest retail network
in the world,” Kenneth E. Richardson, a public representative on
the PRC’s staff, wrote last month.

A PRC decision that the Postal Service's
rates are not in compliance with the ratemaking requirements and
objectives of 39 U.S.C. could have consequences beyond a public
embarrassment of the Postal Service. Private parties could
take the PRC's ruling to court to deal with the conflict between
the price cap design and the ratemaking requirements and objectives.
It may be possible that a court could force the Postal Service to
raise rates in order to comply with its ratemaking requirements
and objectives.

Separately, a federal judge has set
a Jan. 13 court date for a union bid to block the closing of the
Gloucester County plant. U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman in Camden
is to hear the union's request, said Michael Gallagher, a regional
official with the American Postal Workers Union. The union went
to court last week, asking that the Logan facility remain open while
it challenges the Postal Service's plan before an arbitrator.
The Postal Service
on Tuesday began accepting transfer requests from union workers
at the Logan plant, said Gallagher. He said workers were to list
their preferences for available jobs within a 500-mile radius
APWU Sues USPS To Halt Closure Of Philly L & DC Until Dispute Over
AMP Study Is Settled

"Some employees have had hours reduced
to two hours per week; others have been forced to travel to distant
offices; many have surrendered — and terminated their employment." PR Note: This problem is not limited to small offices. In
my office mostly all of the supervisors are performing clerk craft
duties. One supervisor in particular has been performing Clerk duties
for last 3 years, 4- 6 hours per day, 5/6 days a week. The grievance
settlements for the violation is running into thousands of $$. From
my understanding this problem is widespread throughout the USPS
Bay-Valley District. What harm has it
done? It allows Management to downsize/excess the clerk craft.
The Union cannot fight this issue with employees remaining silent..
Unless employees speak out and report supervisors performing craft
work--they may find themselves getting excess 500 miles away from
home.

Seven
months ago, Art Tilson suffered a fatal heart attack and collapsed
on the floor of his workplace. Since then, Tilson's co-workers have
urged the post office to install an automated external defibrillator
(AED), an increasingly popular device that jump-starts the heart.
They don't know whether it would have saved Tilson's life, but they
think it would help protect a workforce filled with heart-attack
candidates." All I'd like to see is that when the next guy goes
down, there's a defibrillator there," said postal worker Bruce Johnson.
So far, however, the workers have failed to jolt the U.S. Postal
Service into action.

CRS Report - In the three years since the enactment of the PAEA,
some issues and questions concerning the law’s provisions have arisen.
These include, but are not limited to, possible executive branch
concerns about the PAEA and the separation of powers; the cost of
prefunding USPS future retiree health benefits; the role of the
public in the closure of nonretail postal facilities; the USPS’s
authority to provide nonpostal products and services, and the viability
of the USPS’s business model.

One of two former U.S. Postal Service workers who admitted stealing more
than 500 employee incentive gift cards worth a total of $24,675 was ordered
today to serve 180 days in the Middlesex County jail and repay his half of
the theft.

The
financially troubled U.S. Postal Service pays Robert F. Bernstock a $232,500
salary to oversee its shipping and mailing division,
but a little-known
hiring provision allows the executive to earn even more money from outside
corporate sources. Mr. Bernstock took home more than $270,000 in cash and other
compensation combined in fiscal 2008
by serving on the corporate boards for weight-loss giant Nutrisystem Inc.
and Pantry Inc., which runs the Kangaroo Express convenience store chain,
according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. ...Postal
officials agreed to let Mr. Bernstock retain his paid outside corporate
positions even as he works full time for the Postal Service under a special
condition of his June 2008 hiring. In addition, the Postal Service further
boosted Mr. Bernstock's finances by awarding him an $85,000 hiring bonus in
fiscal 2008 and an $85,000 retention bonus for fiscal 2009.
2008 Pay For Performance for USPS Execs - 83 Executives added in 2009
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Paying Postal Executives |